Yahoo! News: World News

No end to Italy deadlock despite president's efforts
Pope leads traditional Good Friday rite at Rome Colosseum
U.S. B-2 bombers sent to Korea on rare mission: diplomacy not destruction
Kenyans await ruling in disputed presidential race
South Africa says Mandela makes progress, in good spirits
Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein dead at 70
China's Xi wraps up Africa tour in Republic of Congo
Seven killed in northern Mexican bar shooting
Central African Republic coup leader says will review resource deals
Guinea to hold polls with or without opposition: minister
Analysis: NKorea threat may be more bark than bite
Syrian rebels in strategic battle for south
South Africa: Mandela making progress in hospital
Pope's foot-washing final blow for traditionalists
Sparks fly in short campaign in Venezuela
Argentina may defy NY courts with payment offer
Exhibit of Jews in Germany raises interest, ire
Iraq says it will search more Syria-bound flights
Pope prays at Good Friday rite recalling Mideast
Christians mark Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday
North Korean war talk: hot air or serious threat?
Yemen's victory: Getting everyone in the same room - with no swords drawn
Oh, the places you won't go! World's 25 least-visited countries
Is Javier Bardem more 'No Country for Old Men' than 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'?
What's behind the bailout crisis in Cyprus?
North Korea's Kim Jong-un issues fresh round of threats
Herschel Walker tells soldiers: 'Don't be afraid to ask for help'

No end to Italy deadlock despite president's efforts

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 12:42 PM PDT

By James Mackenzie and Barry Moody ROME (Reuters) - Italy remained in political deadlock on Friday after a new round of talks led by President Giorgio Napolitano failed to break the stalemate created by elections last month that left no group able to form a government alone. Napolitano, 87, conducted a swift round of talks with the three main forces in parliament on Friday after the failure of a week of efforts by center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani to win support for a new government. ...

Pope leads traditional Good Friday rite at Rome Colosseum

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 03:05 PM PDT

By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Thousands of people holding candles turned out at Rome's Colosseum to see Pope Francis mark the first Good Friday of his pontificate with a traditional "Way of the Cross" procession around the ancient amphitheatre. Francis, who was elected on March 13, sat under a red canopy on Rome's Palatine Hill as representatives of the faithful from around the world alternated carrying a wooden cross on the day Christians commemorated Jesus's death by crucifixion. ...

U.S. B-2 bombers sent to Korea on rare mission: diplomacy not destruction

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 03:42 PM PDT

By Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The stealthy, nuclear-capable U.S. B-2 bomber is a veteran of wars in Iraq and Libya, but it isn't usually a tool of Washington's statecraft. Yet on Thursday, the United States sent a pair of the bat-winged planes on a first-of-its-kind practice run over the skies of South Korea, conducting what U.S. officials say was a diplomatic sortie. The aim, the officials said, was two-fold: to reassure U.S. allies South Korea and Japan in the face of a string of threats from North Korea, and to nudge Pyongyang back to nuclear talks. ...

Kenyans await ruling in disputed presidential race

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:34 PM PDT

By Edmund Blair NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Supreme Court rules on Saturday on a challenge to Uhuru Kenyatta's presidential election win, a judgment seen as a test of the democratic system five years after another disputed vote triggered tribal bloodshed. The country's outgoing president called for calm ahead of the decision that will either confirm the victory of Kenya's richest man Kenyatta or force another vote. Defeated candidate Raila Odinga says the March 4 poll was marred by technical problems and widespread rigging. Both politicians have promised to abide by the court's final word. ...

South Africa says Mandela makes progress, in good spirits

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 05:38 AM PDT

By Shafiek Tassiem SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - South African former President Nelson Mandela is in good spirits and making progress, doctors said on Friday, after the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero was taken to hospital for the third time in four months for a lung infection. The medical report was a relief to South Africans who had been anxiously praying and waiting for an update on the health of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, hospitalized before midnight on Wednesday. Global leaders sent their best wishes. ...

Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein dead at 70

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 03:27 PM PDT

By Jeffrey Jones CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Ralph Klein, the rough-edged "King Ralph" who ruled Canada's energy-producing province of Alberta from 1992 to 2006 with conservative policies that included deep public spending cuts and debt reduction, died on Friday, his family said. He was 70. Klein, a one-time television reporter who was also mayor of Calgary, had been suffering from dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and had been out of the public spotlight that he basked in for much of his adult life. ...

China's Xi wraps up Africa tour in Republic of Congo

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 02:14 PM PDT

BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - China's newly appointed President Xi Jinping wrapped up a six-day tour of Africa on Friday in Republic of Congo, where he signed off on infrastructure projects and pledged deeper cooperation between his country and the continent. Thousands of people, many wearing T-shirts bearing the president's likeness, turned out under a blazing equatorial sun to welcome the new Chinese leader to the former French colony's sprawling riverside capital, Brazzaville. ...

Seven killed in northern Mexican bar shooting

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 12:44 PM PDT

CIUDAD JUAREZ (Reuters) - Seven people were killed when a gunman opened fire in the early hours of Friday in a bar in northern Mexico, which has seen a resurgence in drug-related violence in recent weeks. The man, armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, killed four men who were clients in the bar in Chihuahua state as well as three women who worked there, said a spokesman for the state attorney general's office. "It has not been determined whether the attack is connected to drug trafficking, but by the type of weapon involved, it is to be assumed," said spokesman Carlos Gonzalez. ...

Central African Republic coup leader says will review resource deals

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 02:28 PM PDT

By Ange Aboa and Paul-Marin Ngoupana BANGUI (Reuters) - Central African Republic's new President Michel Djotodia, who seized power last week, said on Friday he would review resource deals signed by the previous government and promised to step down at elections in 2016. Djotodia, a former civil servant turned rebel leader, said he would seek aid from former colonial power France and the United States to retrain the ill-disciplined army, which was easily overrun by fighters from his Seleka rebel coalition. ...

Guinea to hold polls with or without opposition: minister

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 01:15 PM PDT

By Bate Felix and Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) - Guinea will hold long-delayed parliamentary elections this year, to conclude its transition to civilian rule, with or without the participation of the country's main opposition coalition, a government minister said on Friday. The mineral-rich country was originally supposed to hold the vote in 2011 - but it was held up amid wrangling over the makeup of the electoral commission and opposition accusations that the government was planning to rig it. ...

Analysis: NKorea threat may be more bark than bite

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:42 PM PDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Across North Korea, soldiers are gearing up for battle and shrouding their jeeps and vans with camouflage netting. Newly painted signboards and posters call for "death to the U.S. imperialists" and urge the people to fight with "arms, not words."

Syrian rebels in strategic battle for south

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 01:06 PM PDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Capitalizing on a recent influx of weapons, Syrian rebels are waging a strategic battle for the southern part of the country and seeking to secure a corridor from the Jordanian border to Damascus in preparation for an eventual assault on the capital.

South Africa: Mandela making progress in hospital

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 05:14 AM PDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nelson Mandela is making "steady progress" while being treated for a recurring lung infection and he had a full breakfast on Friday, South African authorities said.

Pope's foot-washing final blow for traditionalists

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 03:23 PM PDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has won over many hearts and minds with his simple style and focus on serving the world's poorest, but he has devastated traditionalist Catholics who adored his predecessor, Benedict XVI, for restoring much of the traditional pomp to the papacy.

Sparks fly in short campaign in Venezuela

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:13 PM PDT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — It's Holy Week in Venezuela, a time when millions traditionally take a welcome pause from work and politics to go on vacation. Yet that hasn't stopped Venezuela's time-pressed presidential candidates from sprinting through the holidays toward an April 14 election to replace the late Hugo Chavez, as they try to define both themselves and each other within weeks.

Argentina may defy NY courts with payment offer

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 04:08 PM PDT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — With just hours to go before Argentina has to show its last cards in a billion-dollar debt showdown in the U.S. courts, President Cristina Fernandez seems to be keeping up her "we're going for more" motto. Her government is reportedly preparing a response that analysts say could lead the country into another catastrophic default.

Exhibit of Jews in Germany raises interest, ire

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 07:40 AM PDT

BERLIN (AP) — "Are there still Jews in Germany?" ''Are the Jews a chosen people?"

Iraq says it will search more Syria-bound flights

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 01:19 PM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq says it will stop more aircraft moving through its airspace and vehicles traveling overland to search for weapons being sent to the Syrian civil war, a senior Iraqi official said Friday.

Pope prays at Good Friday rite recalling Mideast

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 03:02 PM PDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis praised the "friendship of so many Muslim brothers" during the Good Friday procession that re-enacts Jesus Christ's crucifixion and this year was dedicated to the plight of Christians in the Middle East.

Christians mark Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 06:42 AM PDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of Christians streamed through the cobblestone alleyways of Jerusalem's Old City on Friday, hoisting wooden crosses and chanting prayers to mark the crucifixion of Jesus.

North Korean war talk: hot air or serious threat?

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 01:02 PM PDT

North Korea held a mass rally Friday with fist-shaking generals promising to "dismantle and terminate" the nation's enemies in "any part of the world" to an audience of deliriously enthusiastic khaki-uniformed Korean soldiers.

Yemen's victory: Getting everyone in the same room - with no swords drawn

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 11:38 AM PDT

Outspoken feminists rub shoulders – metaphorically, at least – with Salafis. Youth activists mingle with establishment politicians. A representative of the Houthis, a rebel group turned political movement that has fought with the government for the past decade, helps run the show. Delegates from the southern provinces constantly vying for autonomy casually cross conversational red lines on independence talk as others in the room veer on declaring secession treasonous.

Oh, the places you won't go! World's 25 least-visited countries

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 09:38 AM PDT

For some travelers, getting off the beaten path is a point of pride, a way to see the parts of the world that don't make it into glossy guidebooks.

Is Javier Bardem more 'No Country for Old Men' than 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'?

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 08:49 AM PDT

While Spanish Oscar winner Javier Bardem brilliantly plays bad guys in film, in real life he is viewed as a social hero, publicly fighting for human rights and against government policies that hurt the beleaguered Spanish public.

What's behind the bailout crisis in Cyprus?

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 07:15 AM PDT

Cyprus is the latest victim of the eurocrisis, in which a combination of highly indebted banks and unsustainable sovereign debts brought several members of the eurozone to the brink of bankruptcy. But the Cypriot crisis entails unique features that have shaped how it has developed – and the impact it is having on the rest of Europe and the eurozone.

North Korea's Kim Jong-un issues fresh round of threats

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 06:56 AM PDT

• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Herschel Walker tells soldiers: 'Don't be afraid to ask for help'

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 06:29 AM PDT

He admits it was easier being Herschel Walker, the Heisman Trophy winner. Easier being Herschel Walker, the All-Pro NFL running back.